LIEDCENTERGROUNDBREAKINGDELAYED

Kansas University has postponed the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Lied Center for the performing arts previously scheduled for Friday.

Allen Wiechert, KU director of facilities planning, said the ceremony was being canceled because bids opened by the KU Endowment Association on Friday exceeded the $13.1 million budget for the project.

Wiechert declined to reveal the range of bids received.

Henningson, Durham and Richardson, the architectural firm that designed the building, has begun reviewing the bids in an effort to identify sources of excessive cost. The Lied Center Planning Committee will soon meet with the architects and with the bidders for the project to discuss the university's options.

The building is being funded by a $10 million grant from the Ernst F. Lied Foundation of Las Vegas and through contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations as part of the Lawrence Campaign.

The building, which is designed to hold a 2,160-seat theater, had been scheduled for completion by the spring of 1992, but Wiechert said the latest developments could delay the project.